Canada 5 Honduras 0
June 17 – Canada over the past six years have forced their way into Concacaf’s elite but have so often flattered to deceive. They are the team everyone quite likes but have never delivered the championship title their talent screams for. Re-adjust everyone.
September 6 – FIFA says it will review its ranking system after qualification for the 2018 World Cup is finished. The announcement comes in the wake of criticism of how countries can play the system to improve their tournament seedings.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 5 – European club football entered a new era today as Juventus president Andrea Agnelli (pictured) took over from Karl-Heinz Rummenigge as only the second ever head of the European Clubs Association, bringing to an end the German’s nine-year reign.
By Paul Nicholson at Soccerex, Manchester
September 5 – CONCACAF wants three automatic places at the 2026 World Cup if the US, Mexico and Canada bid wins the hosting rights, said general secretary Philippe Moggio (pictured right). He also said that the confederation’s blue riband Gold Cup may be expanded to 16 teams in future editions as well as potentially being hosted outside the US.
By Andrew Warshaw at Soccerex, Manchester
September 5 – The UEFA official in charge of anti-doping procedures has played down alarming figures provided by the notorious Fancy Bears hacking group by insisting professional footballers are clean.
September 5 – With Myanmar’s army and Buddhist extremists having allegedly stepped up a campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Muslim-minority Rohinga, Kyrgyzstan has scrapped its home game against Myanmar in qualifying for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup over “security concerns.”
September 5 – Transfer fees paid by clubs across Europe’s big-5 leagues jumped by 41% in the 2017 period to €5.9 billion with the Premier League clubs leading the way spending about €1.55 billion in fixed transfer fees and €220 million in conditional payments – on average about €89 million per club.
September 5 – European club football may now have a voice at UEFA’s top table but that hasn’t prevented UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin warning that the gap between the haves and the have-nots remains the most challenging issue facing the sport.
September 5 – The Rwanda Football Federation (FERWAFA) has postponed presidential elections originally scheduled for September 10th following a request from FIFA.
By Paul Nicholson at Soccerex, Manchester
September 5 – A meeting at the end of this year between the Sports Grounds Safety Authority and the government will be the next stage to deciding whether standing areas will be allowed to return to top flight English football.
September 5 – Danish company Veo has launched a video recording system that can film games without using a camera operator and deliver an edited match back to clubs and coaches within 24 hours.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 4 – Despite insisting they have played strictly by the rules, Paris St Germain’s eye-watering spending spree during the latter part of the summer transfer window is to be investigated by UEFA for possible breaches of financial fair play.
By Paul Nicholson at Soccerex, Manchester
September 4 – Facebook is coming of age as a serious marketing and broadcast option for football’s rights holders. Speaking at the Soccerex Global Convention that opened in Manchester today Jerry Newman, Facebook’s Sport Partnership Lead for EMEA, told clubs and leagues, “don’t procrastinate. Get out there.”
September 4 – Attempts to end Kuwait’s long exile from international football are expected to take place this week with talks over amending the Kuwaiti FA statutes according to local reports.
September 4 – For the second time in a matter of days, The Confederation of African Football (CAf) has called off an inspection visit to Kenya, hosts of the 2018 African Nations Championship (CHAN).
September 4 – German coach Joachim Low and his players have denounced a hardcore section of fans for their disgraceful pro-Nazi chanting during Friday night’s World Cup qualifier against the Czech Republic.